Warrington plans £5m heritage hub

Warrington is seeking to expand its offer of library and heritage services with a £5m Heritage Hub for the town centre.

LiveWire and Culture Warrington have revealed their plans to bring a Heritage Hub to Warrington by 2019 as Central Library looks to increase participation and its offer by expanding the lending library from the Grade II listed building it currently shares with Warrington Museum & Art Gallery on Museum Street, into the heart of the town centre next year.

Jan Souness, managing director of LiveWire and Culture Warrington, said, “LiveWire and Culture Warrington both share the same aim of improving the wellbeing of residents in Warrington and we believe that through expanding our library offer and providing more opportunities for people to explore their heritage and culture, we will be able to offer a greater number of activities that improve wellbeing.

“Expanding our library into a central town centre location will allow LiveWire to bring its library offer into the 21st century, providing a modern, exciting and interactive environment for users so they can use the library space differently and for longer.”

A new library venue will also allow the organisation to provide a larger digital offer to reflect the digital age and remain relevant in the future. The new building will be easier for users to access as it is closer to transport links and would be able to offer have longer opening hours.

New gallery space would also be developed in the hub and learning spaces would be created which could be used by local schools to teach young people about Warrington’s rich history.

Culture Warrington, with its proven track record of securing funding, will apply to the Heritage Lottery Fund and other grant making organisations next year to fund the £4-5 million project and if their application successful, work will begin to create the Heritage Hub in early 2018.